Family and Education

b. 1738, o. surv. s. of John Harrison of Norton Place by Elizabeth, da. of William Dealtry of Gainsborough, wid. of Philip Jenkinson of Lincoln.  educ. Eton 1753-6; Trinity, Camb. 9 June 1756, aged 18; M. Temple 1760, called 1766.  m. 7 Nov. 1766, Catherine, da. of Rev. Robert Pinder of Owston Hall, Lincs., 3da.  suc. fa. 1768.

Offices Held

Biography

Harrison was returned unopposed for Grimsby in 1780 on the interest of Charles Anderson Pelham. ‘A young man of genteel though not ample fortune’, wrote the English Chronicle in 1781, ‘[he] ... is the first of his family who ever aspired to the high honour of a British legislator.’ Until the fall of North he voted consistently with Opposition. Four speeches are recorded 1780-2, all on America.

After July 1782 he supported Fox, and voted against Shelburne’s peace preliminaries, 18 Feb. 1783. He voted for parliamentary reform, 7 May 1783; and is described in his obituary (Gent. Mag. 1811, i. 196) as ‘invariably the friend of popular rights and ... celebrated for his inflexible opposition to the Administration of his day’. He was a noted agriculturist and supporter of enclosures.

He died 7 Feb. 1811, aged 78.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: I. R. Christie

Notes